Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
The Country’s second and South India’s first Kisan Rail service has been recently flagged off.
This would connect Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh to Adarsh Nagar Railway Station in Delhi. The train was flagged off by the Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar. The Kisan Rail scheme was announced in Budget 2020-21 for transport of agricultural products.

Notes:
India and Japan have recently signed a key agreement for Reciprocal provision of supplies and services between their Defence forces.
Called as the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), it facilitates smooth provision of supplies and services between Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and India’s armed forces. This agreement is expected to promote military cooperation and regional security.

Notes:
The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas has recently dedicated 56 Compressed natural gas (CNG) stations spread across 13 states, to the nation.
He also said that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is working to launch the 11th City gas distribution (CGD) authorisation round. The regulator board gives licenses for Retail CNG to automobiles and Piped cooking gas to household kitchens.

Notes:
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has stated that India’s Defence exports has grown by 700% from Rs 1521 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 10,745 crore in 2018-19.
Also, as of 2019, India is ranked 19th in the list of top Defence exporters in the world, which is an all-time high rank ever featured by India.

Notes:
The Pune based SII -Serum Institute of India has paused the clinical trial of COVID vaccine candidate. The vaccine is being developed by Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and Astra Zeneca.
Serum Institute has stopped the trial after a notice from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). The trials of COVID vaccine were stopped globally after one of the recipients in U.K. showed adverse symptoms.

Notes:
Amazon India has recently confirmed that the Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan will become the first Indian celebrity whose voice will feature on the Alexa voice assistant.
The company is to add the voice of the actor as a paid upgrade and that will be added through the Alexa Skills interface. His voice would be used in notifications about weather, jokes and advices, as a part of attracting customers.

Notes:
British Racing Driver Lewis Hamilton has recently clinched his 90th Formula One win after winning the Tuscan Grand Prix Tournament.
Valtteri Bottas reaced within 1.1 seconds of Hamilton and finished second while Red Bull driver Alexander Albon finished third and clinched his first career podium. Hamilton can equal Schumacher’s record of victories at the Russian Grand Prix, as he is one win behind Schumacher.

Notes:
According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia’s economy will contract for the first time since the early 1960s.
The bank had earlier projected that the GDP would grow by 0.1 per cent. Now, it is estimated that Asia’s GDP would decline by 0.7 per cent in 2020 and would increase to 7.7 per cent in 2021. It also highlighted that the GD in India would contract by 9% this year.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated various projects under the ‘Namami Gange’ Yojana and the ‘AMRUT’ Yojana in Bihar.
The four schemes inaugurated include sewerage treatment plants in Patna and water-related projects under the ‘AMRUT’ scheme. The Prime Minister also laid foundation stones were also laid for water supply projects and River Front Development Scheme under Namami Gange.

Notes:
Senior bureaucrat Rajesh Khullar has been appointed as Executive Director of World Bank, Washington.
He is a 1988 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He is currently serving as the Principal secretary to Haryana Chief Minister. He will have a tenure of three years at the World Bank.